Tree harvester

ABSTRACT

A novel and improved tree-harvesting method and apparatus adapted to cut, delimb, top, transport and deposit a plurality of trees in a stack at a desired collection point. The tree harvester features a horizontally oriented mast which is mounted on a mobile vehicle. A butt shear and felling grapple are pivotally mounted at one end of the mast and are adapted to grasp and sever a standing tree and pivot it to a substantially horizontal position overlying the mast where it is grasped and securely held by a transfer grapple. A combination delimber and top shear is mounted for longitudinal movement on the top of the mast and is adapted to be driven along the tree to strip all limbs from the tree and also to remove the top portion of the tree at either a predetermined length or diameter. After the tree has been delimbed and topped, it is dropped by the transfer grapple into collection arms positioned at intervals along the mast and adapted to hold a large number of delimbed and topped trees to be transported by the tree harvester to a collection point where the trees are deposited in a stack.

United States Patent [7 21 Inventor Virgil C. Stuart, Jr.

West Palm Beach, Fla. [21] App]. No. 877,937 [22] Filed Nov. 19, 1969[45] Patented Nov. 9, 1971 [73] Assignee Owens-Illinok, Inc.

[54] TREE HARVESTER 5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs. 1 [52] [1.8. (1 .144/309AC,

144/2 2, 144/3 D [51] Int. CL. A0lg 23/02 [50] Field of Search 144/2 2,3

D, 34 R, 34 E, 309 AC [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS3,385,333 5/1968 Eynon 144/3 D 3,487,864 1/1970 Larson et al. 144/3 D3,531,235 9/1970 Boyd et al 144/2 Z FOREIGN PATENTS 119,034 4/1958U.S.S.R. 144/3 D Primary Examiner-Gerald A. Dost Attorneys- E. J. Hollerand Alan J. Steger ABSTRACT: A novel and improved tree-harvesting methodand apparatus adapted to cut, delimb, top, transport and deposit aplurality of trees in a stack at a desired collection point. The treeharvester features a horizontally oriented mast which is mounted on amobile vehicle. A butt shear and felling grapple are pivotally mountedat one end of the mast and are adapted to grasp and sever a standingtree and pivot it to a substantially horizontal position overlying themast where it is grasped and securely held by a transfer grapple. Acombination delimber and top shear is mounted for longitudinal movementon the top of the mast and is adapted to be driven along the tree tostrip all limbs from the tree and also to remove the top portion of thetree at either a predetennined length or diameter. After the tree hasbeen delimbed and topped, it is dropped by the transfer grapple intocollection arms positioned at intervals along the mast and adapted tohold a large number of delimbed and topped trees to be transported bythe tree harvester to a collection point where the trees are depositedin a stack.

PATENTED NOV 9 I97\ SHEET 1 [IF 4 R M m r/ M m M M H W W I W M E ww m gNV .w// A. I N\\ W QQ NM. m Q 3 f Q A \v 0 M QQ BS 3 N R 0 \N R N @NPATENTED NBV 91971 SHEET 2 [IF 4 Q MW W if a? aw 4.. Wm

PATENTEU NUV 91971 SHEET U 0F 4 TREE nsavrzs'ma BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION This invention relates to a novel method and apparatus forbeen proposed heretofore for felling trees, but such machines have notbeen foundto' be sufficiently practical for'harvesting trees from aforest.

suitable type which is adapted to support the tree harvester apparatusand convey it into a forest-type area. In addition,

' the powerplant units 18 may be of any standard type suitable It is,therefore, an object of this invention toprovide a novel 7tree-harvesting machine which completely processes a tree and overcomesthe disadvantages associated with-previously known tree-harvestingmachinery.

SUMMARY OF THE mvarmoN This invention provides a unique tree-harvestingmachine which will cut, delimb, top, transport and deposits plurality oftrees in a stack at a desired collection'point. In general, thetree-harvesting machine of this invention features a substantiallyhorizontally extending mast which is mounted on a mobile vehicle. A buttshear and felling grapple are pivotally mounted atone end of the mastand are 'adapted to grasp and sever a standing tree and pivot it to asubstantially horizontal position overlying the mast. A transfer grappleis mounted on the mast at the same end as the butt shear and fellinggrapple and is adapted to receive andsecurely holdthe tree after. it hasbeen laid down by the felling grapple. The novel tree harvester of thisinventionfurther includes a'combinationdelimber and top shear which ismounted for longitudinal movement on the top of the horizontal "mast andis adapted to be driven along thetree to strip all limbs from the treeand to remove the top portion of the tree at either a predeterminedlength or predetermined diameter. A plurality of tree collection. suitsare attached to one side of the horizontal mast and are adapted toreceive a large number of delimbed and topped trees to .be transportedby the tree harvester to a collection point where the trees can bedropped in abundle. 1

Other objects, features and advantages of this invention will becomeobvious upon reference to the following detailed description oftheinvention and the drawings illustrating the preferred embodimentthereof.

IN THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the tree harvesterof this invention as it initially grasps and severs a standing tree atground level.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of the tree harvester of FIG. 1after it has pivoted a tree to a substantially horizontal position forprocessing.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of another portion of the tree harvester ofFIG. 1 after it has delimbed and topped a tree.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the tree harvester of this inventionholding several processed trees for transport with the harvester andgrasping a new standing tree to be processed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION and endless treads 22. The mobilevehicle 12 may be of any to'propelthe vehicle 12 and to provide powerfor operating the various tree-harvesting apparatus which will behereinafter described. 1 I

f The main structural component of the tree harvestingapparatus is amast 24 which is telescopingly mounted in a generally horizontalposition within a mast collar 26. Themast collar 26 is pivotally mountedabove andsupported on the base platform 14 by means of amounting flange28'. A hydraulic actuating mechanism-30 is mounted between the baseplatform 14 and the mast collar 26 to control the vertical position ofthe mast 24. The mast 24 is adapted for linear movement relative to themast collar 26 and drivenb'y'means not shown.

Thus, it should be understood that the position of the mast24 may becontrolled both to movethe mast into and away from the mobile power unit12 and alsoto change the angle of the r'nast 24 with respect to thehorizon.

, Pivotally mounted at one end of the mast 24is' a felling grapple unit32 (which can best be seen in FIG. 4) which includes a butt shearmechanism 34 and four grasping arms 36.

The butt'shear 34 includes a pair of shearing blades 38 each ofwhich-are actuated for movement relative to the felling grappleunit 32,by means of a hydraulic cylinder 40 (only one is visible'inFlG.,4). Theblades 38 are adapted to completely sever the trunkof a treewhenactuated by the cylinders 40. The four grasping arms 36 securely holdandposition the trunk of atree while the cutting blades 38 of the buttshear 34 sever the'tree ata location close to groundlevel. The fellinggrapple unit 32 is actuatable'to pivot 90 relative'to the mast 24 bymeansof ahydraulic cylinder 44. Thus, once the butt shear 34 has severeda tree (such as'the large standing tree42 in FIG. 1) the cylinder 44 isactuated to pivot the felling grapple unit 32 and the tree 42 to theposition shown in FIG. 2.

I Fixed to the top of the mast 24 at the same end as the felling grappleunit 32 is a transfer grapple unit 46. The transfer grapple unit 46includes four grasping arms 48 which are very A similar to the graspinganns 36 on the felling grapple unit 32.

It is the function of the grasping arms48 on the transfer grapple 46 tosecurely hold and position the tree in an'overlying position withrespect to the mast 24 while the'delimbing and topping functions areperformed by apparatus to be described hereinafter. When the tree 42 hasbeen pivoted by means of the felling grapple unit 32 to the positionshown in FIG. '2, the grasping arms 48 of the transfer grapple 46 areclosed to grasp and securely hold the tree 42. At this time the arms 36may be opened and the felling grapple unit 32 pivoted downwardly to theposition shown in FIG. 4 in preparation for grasping and severinganother'tree 42a.

A combination delimber and top shear unit 50 is mounted on and adaptedfor movement along the length of mast 24. This delimber unit 50 includesa pair of delimbing blades 52 which are spring biased intocircumferential engagement with the tree. The delimbing blades 52 areadapted to strip branches from the tree 42 as the delimber unit 50 ismoved axially along the tree. Actuating means 54 are provided to openthe delimbing blades 52 to the position shown in FIG. 4 prior to theacceptance of another tree. Further included in the delimber unit 50 isa top shear device 56 which comprises a pair of knife edge blades whichare actuatable to shear through the tree trunk to thereby remove the topportion 62 of the tree 42. The top shear device 56 is adapted to beautomatically actuated at either a predetermined length of the treetrunk or at a predetermined diameter. For example, if it is desired tohave all trees cut to a predetermined length of 50 feet, the top shearmechanism 56 can be set to automatically sheer off the top of the treewhen it reaches a 50-foot length as it passes along the tree; or, if itis desired to have no portion of the resulting tree trunk with adiameter of less than 3 inches, the top shear may be set to sense adiameter of 3 inches and automatically shear off the top of the tree atthat point.

The operation of the delimber unit 50 can best be understood whenviewing the transition from FIG. 2 to FIG. 3. In FIG. 2, it can be seenthat the delimbing blades 52 close around the tree 42 once it is firmlyheld by the grasping arms 48. At this point, the cutting knives of thetop shear device 56 remain open. The delimber unit 50 then proceedsalong the mast 24 delimbing the tree 42 as it proceeds. The delimberunit 50 is propelled on a cable (not shown) which is driven around apulley 58 by means of a delimber cable drive mechanism 60. Once delimberunit 50 reaches the position shown in FIG. 3, the top shear 56 isactuated to shear off the top portion 62 of the tree 42. The delimberunit 50 then moves on to the position shown in phantom lines 50a whereit contacts a hydraulic shock absorber 64 which actuates the delimbercable drive mechanism 60 to reverse the direction of the delimber unit50 to return it to a position adjacent to the transfer grapple 46 asshown in FIG. 4. In the meantime, after the tree has been topped anddelimber unit 50 has moved past the tree to the position shown inphantom lines 50a in FIG. 3, the grasping arms 48 are opened to releasethe tree 42. The tree 42 is then dropped into a plurality of collectionarms 66 which are positioned at intervals along the mast 24 and adaptedto accumulate and hold for transport with the tree harvester aconsiderable number of processed trees. The collection arms 66 are alsoadapted to be pivoted downwardly to simultaneously drop a bundle ofprocessed trees at a predetermined collection point.

Thus, the tree-harvesting concept of this invention provides atree-harvesting machine which is capable of completely processing aplurality of trees and delivering them as a group to a predeterminedcollection point. Once the operator has directed the equipment to agiven tree such that it has been grasped by the felling grapple unit 32and severed by the butt shear device 34, the tree is then automaticallypivoted to a substantially horizontal position where it is grasped andheld above the mast 24 by the grasping arms 48 on the transfer grapple46. The delimber blades 52 are then closed into contact with the tree 42and the delimber unit 50 is driven along the mast 24 and to remove alllimbs from the tree 42. Once the delimber unit 50 reaches either apredetermined length or a predetermined diameter, as describedpreviously, the top shear 56 removes the top 62 of the tree 42. Thedelimber unit 50 is then moved past the tree and the tree is released bythe arms 48 and dropped into the collection arms 66. It should be notedthat as soon as the tree is grasped and held by the arms 48 on thetransfer grapple 46, the felling grapple unit 32 is rotated back to theposition shown in FIG. 4, and the operator may proceed to adjust theposition of the mast 24 so that the felling grapple unit 32 ispositioned to grab a second tree 42a while the first tree 42 is beingdelimbed and topped. As soon as the first tree 42 has been released bythe holding arms 48 into the collection arms 66, the second tree 42a maybe sheared by the butt shear 34 and pivoted into position to be held bythe arms 48 for delimbing and topping. Thus, while one tree is beingprocessed the operator may position the equipment to grasp and shear thenext tree so that the harvesting process becomes a continuous one.

Therefore, it should be clear that a continuous tree harvester isprovided by this invention which is adapted to completely process treesin an extremely fast and economical manner. Previously, such treeharvesters have been adapted to sever and delimb only one tree at a timeprior to approaching a second tree. In addition, they were not equippedto stack and carry a number of processed trees for dumping in a bundleat a predetermined collection point. In other words, previous suchharvesters would process one tree at a time and drop it individually onthe ground for collection at a later time. This, therefore, required theuse of a separate tree-gathering machine. In contrast to this, the noveltree harvester of this invention is capable of collecting on themachinery a plurality of trees for transport with the machine and thendumping them in a group at a predetermined collection point. Thus, thisselftransporting feature of the subject invention eliminates the needfor a tree collection machine to be used for collecting individual treesdeposited randomly throughout the forest.

The harvester of this invention is completely mobile in that it issupported on and powered by a tractor-type vehicle which is adapted fortravel over the rough terrain that is usually encountered in and arounda forest. Also, because of the maneuverability of its horizontal mastthe tree harvester of this invention is capable of reaching andprocessing a number of trees without changing the position of the maintractor support unit.

Additionally, the novel tree harvester of the subject invention requiredthe labor of only one operator to cut, delimb, top and transport a groupof trees for dumping in a stack at a collection point. In contrast tothis, previously known procedures would require several pieces ofequipment and several operators to accomplish the same result. Thus,with the tree-harvesting apparatus and method of this inventionconsiderable expense is saved both in machinery and labor overpreviously known tree-harvesting methods.

What is claimed is: l. Tree-harvesting apparatus comprising, incombination: a mobile vehicle; mast means mounted on said mobile vehicleand oriented in a substantially horizontal direction;

felling grapple means pivotally mounted at one end of said horizontalmast means for grasping, severing, and pivoting a standing tree to asubstantially horizontal position overlying said horizontal mast means;transfer grapple means fixed to said horizontal mast means adjacent saidfelling grapple means for receiving a tree from said felling grapplemeans and for securely holding the tree in a fixed substantiallyhorizontal position overlying said horizontal mast means; delimbing andtopping means mounted for axial movement in the horizontal direction onsaid horizontal mast means along the length of said tree for strippingall branches from said tree and for removing the top of the tree; and

collection means attached to said horizontal mast means for receivingand storing in a horizontal orientation a number of delimbed and toppedtrees to be transported with said tree-harvesting apparatus.

2. Tree-harvesting apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein saiddelimbing and topping means includes a pair of delimber blades movableinto and out of engagement with the tree held by said transfer grapplemeans to remove all branches as the delimber blades are driven alongsaid tree and a pair of top shear knives actuatable to remove the topportion of said tree.

3. Tree-harvesting apparatus as set forth in claim 2 further including adrive mechanism mounted on said horizontal mast means to drive saiddelimbing and topping means along said horizontal mast means.

4. The method of harvesting trees comprising the steps of grasping astanding tree, severing the tree at a point near its base, pivoting thesevered tree to a substantially horizontal orientation, supporting saidtree in a fixed elevated position while maintaining its substantiallyhorizontal orientation, delimbing said tree by passing a delimbingmechanism along the length of said tree while supporting said tree insaid fixed substantially horizontal position, topping said tree while itis sup ported in said substantially horizontal position, and storingsaid tree along with other delimbed and topped trees in an elevated andsubstantially horizontal position.

5. The method of claim 4 further including the step of releasing saidstored trees to thereby deposit said trees in a stack.

4 i 4* III 4

1. Tree-harvesting apparatus comprising, in combination: a mobilevehicle; mast means mounted on said mobile vehicle and oriented in asubstantially horizontal direction; felling grapple means pivotallymounted at one end of said horizontal mast means for grasping, severing,and pivoting a standing tree to a substantially horizontal positionoverlying said horizontal mast means; transfer grapple means fixed tosaid horizontal mast means adjacent said felling grapple means forreceiving a tree from said felling grapple means and for securelyholding the tree in a fixed substantially horizontal position overlyingsaid horizontal mast means; delimbing and topping means mounted foraxial movement in the horizontal direction on said horizontal mast meansalong tHe length of said tree for stripping all branches from said treeand for removing the top of the tree; and collection means attached tosaid horizontal mast means for receiving and storing in a horizontalorientation a number of delimbed and topped trees to be transported withsaid treeharvesting apparatus.
 2. Tree-harvesting apparatus as set forthin claim 1 wherein said delimbing and topping means includes a pair ofdelimber blades movable into and out of engagement with the tree held bysaid transfer grapple means to remove all branches as the delimberblades are driven along said tree and a pair of top shear knivesactuatable to remove the top portion of said tree.
 3. Tree-harvestingapparatus as set forth in claim 2 further including a drive mechanismmounted on said horizontal mast means to drive said delimbing andtopping means along said horizontal mast means.
 4. The method ofharvesting trees comprising the steps of grasping a standing tree,severing the tree at a point near its base, pivoting the severed tree toa substantially horizontal orientation, supporting said tree in a fixedelevated position while maintaining its substantially horizontalorientation, delimbing said tree by passing a delimbing mechanism alongthe length of said tree while supporting said tree in said fixedsubstantially horizontal position, topping said tree while it issupported in said substantially horizontal position, and storing saidtree along with other delimbed and topped trees in an elevated andsubstantially horizontal position.
 5. The method of claim 4 furtherincluding the step of releasing said stored trees to thereby depositsaid trees in a stack.